Heavy is the Crown
by 157yrs
Summary: While in NuRavenna, Aeriel catches a glimpse of a new prophecy and hope for her and Irrylath's future together. Post Book Three


Disclaimer: I don't own the Dark Angel Series

_She saw Irrylath. He was laughing. They were together in Avaric, hand in hand. She had something to tell him. Some happy secret. She smiled playfully. They were walking towards the palace gardens. Leaning down, he let her whisper in his ear. She spoke quickly and watched as his face changed to excitement and mischief. He turned to kiss her..._

The vision vanished.

_Do __not__ dwell __on __unnatural __wishes__ or__ seek __forced __futures. __It __can __never __come __to__ pass._The pearl chided.

A new vision formed.

_An unchanged, young wife weeping over her Irrylath, who died peacefully in his sleep after seventy years of rule. Avaric a desolate wasteland. Their people dying. Diseases and famine running amok. The war horse, Avarclon, vanished. Her friends' despise and forsaking her for her selfishness. The world coming undone... _

The vision ended...

Far up in the high crevices of NuRevenna, Aeriel, heir to Revenna and the soul of the world, stood unmoving on the platform to the crystal tower where she over looked the entire city. Nightshade had long fallen. The heavy one and twelve pronged crown of flames on her head served as the only illumination in the otherwise dark surroundings.

Her senses stirred.

A new, true, foresight or prophecy was beginning to fashion in Aeriel's mind, but she knew not how to borne it. It was much easier to fashion her own visions than it was to let one come naturally. The words and futures were there, just out of reach. It had only been three years and a handful of days since her arrival in the ancient city, since the beginning of her studies. She still had a long ways ahead of her.

Frustrated, Aeriel thrust the future away from her and looked into the night.

The sky above hailed empty. Oceanus and all the constellations abroad were shrouded in an endless sea of haze, for it would storm tonight.

Aeriel was besting the knowledge and voice of the pearl within her so that it only spoke a little now and again when it's guidance was necessary. She knew it would rain thrice more in the following days. Balance was essential. The air was much warmer now that the war of the white witch had ended. The world was trying to heal itself, but every so often Aeriel and her inherited knowledge of sorcery had to step in and lend a hand.

"You spoke of resting." An accusing voice resounded behind her. Aerials thoughts were interrupted, even as she smiled. Erin her shadow had come.

"And I will. The rains must come first, before my retirement this night. I must over see this." She insisted and felt the approving glow of the pearl in her breast. Erin huffed as she often did when annoyed with Aeriel's defiance.

"Your own health has fallen since this new duty." The dark girl told her reproachfully. Aeriel sighed, for she knew it looked to be true. The necessaries for living, such as eating, sleeping and even breathing were no longer requirements for her new body. Indeed, Aeriel pondered how changed the lady Revenna had made her. In the last vision the pearl had given her, it would look that she would not age or if she should, it would be very slowly. It was only out of habit and perhaps fear of the appearance of omnipotent sorcery that kept Aeriel trying in act of the mundane tasks. She did not like to look like some untouchable sorceress or immortal.

"Surly, someone else can tend this small duty." Erin suggested. Being that Aeriel was turned away, she did not see the sound worry in her friend's eye.

Another vision stirred.

_The rain became too heavy. The sorcery behind it slighted. With Aeriel not attending it, the plains would flood. _

"Not even this simple duty can be left to another." Aeriel droned, reciting the very words the pearl and impressed in on her repeatedly time and time again. The Crown of Heaven felt heavy on her head.

"Should something slander or go wrong, I alone can set it right." She insisted.

"It is only rain, Aeriel." Erin told her quietly. Smiling, the green eyed girl turned around.

"Yes, behind which is only sorcery. Go back to your slumber, my friend. I will come too, soon enough." She soothed.

For a long moment, Erin studied her silently then she sighed and left the room. Under her breath, Aeriel could hear her muttering about the peculiar rules of wisdom and sorcery that had been tasked to Aeriel.

Curiously, the knowledge and the strange sorcery revolved mostly around the most ancient and impossible mechanisms and sciences that came with the Ancients from Oceanus. The skill and talent to use them went even far beyond the wizardry and knowledge of the wise duroughs of the land.

Astoundingly, the machines were large and so strangely built that even the presence and power it took to use it was too much for the creatures of her world. Horrified, Aeriel had learned from the ancient texts that she alone with her new body could stand in the presence of such things and remain untouched. The energies and sorcery was poison to all others.

_Great power has great responsibilities._

The sorcery of these strange designs could do almost anything. With the pearl's guidance, Aeriel learned that their purpose was nearly limited. The weather, the future, the very lives of all that there was on her world were guided by the old technologies. In the beginning, the Ancients used it to tether the world and keep it alive. As they slowly withdrew, the devices used no longer became necessary as the world was beginning to maintain itself.

It was only with white witch's rise that all began to go awry. When the world was thrown out of balance with unholy chaos and interference, did the need for the old mechanisms come to surface.

The rain came. Aeriel watched it silently for a moment before turning away, intent to find her bed.

_You need not rest. Such is no longer required. The time will be wasted... _

Aeriel brushed the words aside. Her studies and duties would pick up tomorrow after she slept. Sleep was not something she needed, but she could still do it.

Aeriel sensed the unknown vision floating at the edge of her conscious. Too weary to push it away again, she let the fragments come.

_She__ saw __Irrylath __at__ the...__His__ eyes __were__ dark __and __hallowed...__no __peace._

Leaving the balcony, Aeriel made her way to the large room that she and Erin shared. Using a bit of her new skill, Aeriel reached out and tested the airs only to withdraw, finding that her friend was asleep. Quietly, she slipped inside the room. The darkness was instantly pierced by her bright Crown of Heaven.

_...looking through many books... speaking with many friends and advisors. _

Looking across the lush furniture, Aeriel spotted Erin's silhouette buried under the many layers and sets of blankets on her bed. It was a strange way to sleep. Shaking her head, the sorceress made her way to her own bed.

_...herself with the Crown of Heaven... could not take it off her brow... no matter how she tried._

Frowning, Aeriel slipped her burning crown from her head and set it on a near bye table. She stared at it thoughtfully, wondering at her vision.

_Irrylath's eyes... light and new... shadows... guilt and despair in them uplifted... chains wrapped around an unknown wrist broke away._

When no more of the vision cam forth, Aeriel crawled in to bed, exhausted. As her mind faded to slumber a last piece of the vision peeked through.

_Irrylath removing the crown from her head and leaving the ancient city together with Erin in tow. The world set right again and would remain that way forever. They were free.  
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